INTRODUCTIONS

www.engineeringdiploma.com

Celebrating Diplomas: The winners at the inaugural Delivering Diplomas National Awards, which took place in March 2010

Engineering success

Welcome to The Diploma in Engineering, a Delivering

Diplomas supplement showing off best practice and excellence within this exciting line of learning. Chris Parr, editor of Delivering Diplomas, introduces this supplement

H

ello and welcome to our latest

Delivering Diplomas supplement

which contains case studies

detailing some of the very best practice in employer engagement from the Diploma in Engineering. Many of the case studies in this supplement feature consortia, staff, students and employers who were nominated for the National Delivering Diplomas Awards 2010. It was a pleasure to be part of the judging

panel for our inaugural awards, and my fellow judges and I were blown away by the quality of Diploma delivery that consortia across the country, and across all lines of learning, were engaging in. The Diploma in Engineering was no

exception – indeed, such was the consistently high standard of nominations in this field that we have teamed up with the six Sector Skills Councils involved in the Engineering line of learning – Semta, Cogent, IMI (The Institute of the Motor Industry), GoSkills, SummitSkills, and Energy & Utility Skills – to produce this publication, which focuses on the employer engagement aspect of Diplomas that is so crucial to delivery. In this supplement, we have brought

together some of the inspirational tales of employer engagement from consortia across England, almost all of which were nominated for a Delivering Diplomas award earlier this

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year, and many of whom found themselves collecting national awards at the finals in March. The subjects of these case studies range from massive engineering powerhouses such as BAE Systems and Jaguar Land Rover, to the individual teachers and students who have made the delivery of the Diploma in Engineering a success in their local area. They cover consortia-wide programmes,

such as those taking place in North Somerset – winners of the Consortium of the Year accolade in our awards (page 14) – but also focus on the efforts of individuals who have done everything in their own power to make the Diploma in Engineering a success – including Parag Bhatt, our 2010 Diploma Student of the Year (pages 4 and 5). There is no doubt that delivering the Diplomas poses a raft of new challenges to the many and varied stakeholders who need to work together in order to take part in these revolutionary qualifications. Not least among these challenges is employer engagement: something that forms such a key part of the Diploma qualification and ethos. Gone are the days where students

would spend two weeks carrying out basic administrative tasks at the office where their mother or father works. Gone too are the days when work experience was an after- thought; a box that needed to be ticked in order for pupils to move on to the next level.

Employer engagement as part of Diploma

study involves so much more than that. It involves visiting the assembly lines of a Nissan factory, or designing and building a model Formula 1 car. It involves visiting local electricity stations to see how energy is distributed around the area, or examining aeroplanes and identifying possible faults – all examples in this supplement. Fundamentally, it involves proper

engagement from all those involved – the teacher, the student, and vitally, the employer. As Tom Riley, the Engineering line lead

for Knowsley, explains in our case study of Jaguar Land Rover (page 7): “You can talk about engineering until you’re blue in the face in the classroom, but until young people see it in action for themselves they are unlikely to get a good idea of what it is all about.” The case studies contained within this supplement all demonstrate this engagement and the best practice that has been developed. The National Delivering Diplomas Awards

will continue to showcase the best of the best, and in 2011 we will no doubt see even more proof that employers across the country are working with schools and colleges to offer young learners some of the most inspirational, hands-on learning experiences that they will ever be involved in. The 2011 awards launch in September,

and if you have been impressed by the commitment shown by an employer that you are working with, or perhaps there is a particular member of your team who has gone the extra mile to help businesses to engage with the Diplomas, then please get in touch for more details about nominating. Email me at chris.parr@markallengroup. com or visit www.deliveringdiplomas.com Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16